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Mal'Ganis Build Guide “I am eternal!”
Welcome to our guide for Mal'Ganis, a Tank in Heroes of the Storm. Within these pages, you will find everything required to understand how best to play this hero, in both different map styles and team compositions.
Mal'Ganis's Overview
Mal'Ganis is a Tank who relies on a really good amount of
self-sustain to stay alive when deep within the enemy
backline. The extra survivability is provided by
Vampiric Touch which causes him to be healed
for a portion of all damage he deals, and his Heroic Abilities
that can give him a good chunk of his Health back. Due to his mediocre amount
of mobility, he is very susceptible to being kited
(by Hanzo for example).
Since his engage does not have a lot of range, it is advised
to rely a lot on flanking when playing him,
however, some Heroes can play around that strategy by giving vision
(say Chromie with her 
Time Trap) and some Tank
players can predict this strategy and position on key points to nullify it.
Although he
is easy to pick up and play for those who are
new to the Hero, his kit leaves enough room for showcasing
high level mechanical skill and good decision making.
Be careful while playing him because most of his Abilities can be
interrupted by crowd control
effects (say Raynor using his knockback to
mess up 
Night Rush), something that can easily become
frustrating, especially if you do not pay enough attention to it and/or not
adapt your playstyle accordingly.
Mal'Ganis's Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
High survivability- Decent damage output
- Good crowd control
- Decent waveclear
Weaknesses
Weak to kiting (e.g. Lunara)- Vulnerable to interrupts, especially on his Heroic Abilities
- Not able to peel from high mobility Heroes (like Illidan)
- Weak to Root (e.g. Deckard Cain)
Mal'Ganis's Talent Build Cheatsheet
Necrotic Embrace Build
Recommended
Mal'Ganis's Necrotic Embrace Build is designed to get as much value as possible
from the Hero by increasing his survivability. Talents that increase his damage
contribute to this plan as well because Vampiric Touch
heals Mal'Ganis based on damage dealt.
Fel Claws Build
Situational
Mal'Ganis's Fel Claws Build allows you to crowd control multiple enemy Heroes when they group too much, damaging them and keeping them in place for your team to follow-up.
When you successfully Stun at least 2 Heroes,
activate 
Blind as a Bat at Level 16
and spam 
Fel Claws on the same targets.
This play is pretty good for securing Boss Camps when contested.
ARAM Build
ARAMMal'Ganis's ARAM Build is designed to get as much value as possible
from the Hero by increasing his survivability. Talents that increase his damage
contribute to this plan as well because Vampiric Touch
heals Mal'Ganis based on damage dealt.
Mal'Ganis's Synergies and Counters
Mal'Ganis synergizes with
Mal'Ganis performs better with a Mage (such as Kel'Thuzad) that can follow up on his crowd control or with some Bruisers (like Sonya) or some Melee Assassins (such as Illidan) that can dive on a given target Hero while the rest of the enemy team is Sleeping.
Mal'Ganis is countered by
Mal'Ganis is susceptible to enemy Heroes that can quickly Displace him away during
Night Rush (such as Raynor with
Penetrating Round) or lock him down with
crowd control to deny him any chance to use his
Heroic Ability (like Garrosh with
Warlord's Challenge) while he is getting
focused down to death. Heroes with a lot of
mobility (such as Zeratul) are hard to hit for
Mal'Ganis, so he will not be able to provide any peeling
from them. Heroes with a lot of range (such as Hanzo) can easily
kite Mal'Ganis, rendering him quite unimpactful. Another
weakness he has is the fact that Heroes with Roots
(such as Deckard Cain) can stop Mal'Ganis in place during
Night Rush.
Mal'Ganis's Maps
Mal'Ganis is good on Maps that have narrow passages and corridors, allowing him to get amazing area of effect value from most of his Abilities, and/or where the Objective does not spawn too often because he really needs his Heroic Ability in order to be a complete Hero, but he is bad on Maps that do not have good places where to flank from.
Mal'Ganis's Tips and Tricks
- Since his engage tools have a limited range, it is better to flank enemy Heroes.
- Using
Night Rush immediately after the third activation of 
Fel Claws will make it hard for the focused enemy Hero to react between the Stun and the Sleep. - It is advised to crowd control nearby enemy Heroes before using your Heroic Ability, so that they cannot interrupt it.
- Sometimes it is useful not to use Fel Claws three times in quick succession to keep its Stun ready, to use the next activation for mobility, or to maximize your damage output by using Basic Attacks in between.
Mal'Ganis's Role in the Current Meta
Even if he has a decent kit to be occasionally played as Offlaner—but only on a few Maps where it is not crucial to win the solo lane—and he has been played as such for a few days after his release, Mal'Ganis is currently being played as Tank only. He excels when paired with Heroes that can easily follow up on his engage with burst damage and/or additional crowd control. During team fights, he is able to survive in the enemy backline for a while, wreaking havoc in the enemy formation while providing distraction for his allies to do their work.
Changelog
- 17 Dec. 2023 (talents page): Guide reviewed.
- 17 Dec. 2023 (this page): Guide reviewed.
- 20 Sep. 2023 (talents page): ARAM Build added.
- 20 Sep. 2023 (this page): ARAM Build added.
- 19 Aug. 2023 (talents page): Level 4 Talents Description improved.
- 28 Jun. 2021 (talents page): Dark Conversion's Description improved.
- 28 Jun. 2021 (abilities page): Dark Conversion's Description improved.
- 26 Apr. 2021 (talents page): Builds updated.
- 26 Apr. 2021 (this page): Builds updated.
- 03 Mar. 2021 (talents page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
- 03 Mar. 2021 (abilities page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
- 03 Mar. 2021 (this page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
- 25 Feb. 2021 (talents page): New layout.
- 05 Nov. 2020 (talents page): Guide updated for the latest Balance Update.
- 05 Nov. 2020 (abilities page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
- 05 Nov. 2020 (this page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
- 16 Jul. 2020 (talents page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
- 16 Jul. 2020 (abilities page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
- 16 Jul. 2020 (this page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
- 25 Jun. 2020 (talents page): Builds and Descriptions changed according to the latest Patch.
- 25 Jun. 2020 (abilities page): Abilities section reviewed.
- 25 Jun. 2020 (this page): Builds and Descriptions changed according to the latest Patch.
- 22 Mar. 2020 (talents page): Talent Build fully revised to match new standards.
- Talent Build and Talent Build Cheatsheet modified to reflect the current metagame.
- Talent Descriptions modified to better describe when to pick them.
- 22 Mar. 2020 (abilities page): Ability and Strategy fully revised to match new standards.
- Tips and Tricks modified to add important tips that were missing and to remove obvious ones that were not worth mentioning.
- Ability Descriptions modified to better explain how to use Abilities effectively.
- 22 Mar. 2020 (this page): Introduction fully revised to match new standards.
- Overview rewritten to better describe the Hero.
- Strengths and Weaknesses modified to give a better idea about the Hero when being played right.
- Talent Build Cheatsheet updated to reflect the current metagame.
- Synergies and Counters modified to mention notable Heroes that were missing and to remove misleading Heroes that were listed.
- Maps modified to focus on the main aspects of the Hero when evaluating a Map.
- Tips and Tricks modified to list important tips that were missing before and to delete more obvious ones.
- Role in the Current Meta modified to reflect the current metagame and to remove the unnecessary part about the now fixed Experience Globes.
- 14 Feb. 2020 (talents page): Guide revised in accordance to the latest Balance Update and found no changes were needed.
- 03 Dec. 2019 (talents page): Builds updated and changed Blood Rush to Recommended.
- 03 Dec. 2019 (this page): Added the current Anomaly (Experience Globes) to the guide.
- 19 Jun. 2019 (talents page): Talents and Builds updated to better reflect the current state of the game.
- 19 Jun. 2019 (abilities page): Updated Mal'Ganis's Abilities page to better reflect the current state of the game.
- 16 Oct. 2018 (this page): Guide added.
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Elitesparkle is a multiple times Master player in Europe who plays Heroes of the Storm since its release. He is an active member of the community who likes to teach new and veteran players all he knows about his favorite game.
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